Receptionist Phone Etiquette 101

Many businesses from different industries do not give enough importance to answering the phone. It should be as simple as conversing or helping a customer who enters your business. But a phone call is often the first interaction a client can have with your company, and it’s crucial to have proper phone etiquette. CCSP provides call center consulting services for businesses and can help train your receptionist with our identified top 5 phone etiquette rules that can considerably impact your company.

1. Speak Clearly When Talking to Customers Over the Phone

When talking to customers over the phone, they must understand what you say. Several things can make it difficult for callers to hear or know what you are saying; here are some common areas to improve if your customers often say, “What?”.

• Pronounce words clearly and concisely
• Take a rest between calls if possible
• Avoid coughing, eating, or drinking while on the call
• Use the right technology and avoid old equipment that distorts your voice.

2. Dont Multitask

You might think that you can multitask, but studies show that quality suffers when you focus on more than one task. According to a study by the Cleveland Clinic, we are less productive when trying to multitask. We’re wired to be mono-taskers, meaning that our brains can only focus on one task at a time, according to Neuropsychologist Cynthia Kubu, PhD. “When we think we’re multitasking, most often, we aren’t really doing two things at once. But instead, we’re doing individual actions in rapid succession, or task-switching,” she says. 

So stop trying to finish that email or send the invoice when the phone rings. Set down your work and devote your attention to the task at hand. Give your clients full attention on the phone because they can tell the difference!

3. Match the Caller’s Pace

Most receptionists follow a script and tend to go faster than they realize.  Matching a caller’s style is a great way to ensure you’re delivering information in a manner that is comfortable for the caller. Even if you are busy and trying to decrease call times, rushing the customer can irritate them and make them feel unimportant. Matching pace also applies the opposite way; if a caller is fast-paced, they may try to fit this call between meetings or on lunch break and seem in a hurry, try to go your fastest.

4. Take Digital Notes

Refrain from relying on your memory to remember everything callers say. While taking notes in your CRM or e-file system seems obvious in our digital age, it’s easy to scribble something on a sticky note. Writing down messages on paper can easily get lost, so invest in a system that tracks calls and is easy to take notes with. Tagging notes to a specific call also prevents getting messages mixed up. If setting up a whole new system seems daunting, consider partnering with an answering service that can do it for you.

5. Answer Within Three Rings

You want to answer each call quickly, but answering on the first ring can be challenging. Aim never to let the phone ring more than three times. Answering quickly ensures that callers don’t hang up before you get to them and give an excellent first impression. The longer a phone rings, the more likely they will not be in a good mood, and now you have to calm a disgruntled caller and hope they still want your service.

Call Center Consulting for Receptionists

First impressions are extremely important and making sure that your office is using good phone etiquette is key to success.

Work with the office manager to set up a training course to review these simple principles. Or you may need a more in-depth look at your internal call center operation. In that case, CCSP consults businesses to find gaps in customer communication and administer training.